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Although a legal answer is required, strangely enough this is not a job
for a lawyer. This book challenges the very foundation of the law in
Shetland – something that cannot be done by anyone whose livelihood
relies on the preservation of that system. Mine has been a pretty steep
learning curve as I have grappled with the Scottish legal system (often
being beaten by it), but persistence did achieve the objective. Truly
remarkable were the extreme lengths to which members of the judiciary
were prepared to go in order not to confront the issue, but knowing the
truth kept me going.
It is fundamental to any Western legal system that a court must hear
evidence of its jurisdiction if that jurisdiction is challenged. No judge
should be offended by such a challenge and the evidence should be
readily available. I have been faced with a point-blank refusal to hear
any evidence on jurisdiction, have been convicted on the flimsiest of
evidence of jurisdiction. I have been confined to police cells and been
sent to prison when making such a challenge. In one case, I was convicted
of contempt of court and given a prison sentence without even a hearing.
These actions do not speak of a judiciary confident in its authority.
They come closer to the actions of a police state. The more extreme
their reaction, the closer I am to winning.
In the course of discovering the true basis of Scottish and UK authority
in Shetland it has been necessary to challenge the legal system and break
the perceived law. That has unavoidably been a one-man exercise.
The research also has been largely a solo effort, although I am grateful
for the help I have received from many who have contributed documents
and brought material to my attention. Brian Smith, the Shetland
archivist,features large in this account because his is a key document in
the whole saga. His books have proved to be very helpful and he has
brought documents to my attention that I would not otherwise have known
about. We differ in our interpretation, but there is no personal animosity.
On August 16th 2011 the question of whether Shetland is part of Scotland
was considered in court for the first time in history and we now have the
document on which Scotland and the UK base their authority. The
‘evidence’ produced by the Crown at Lerwick Sheriff Court was a
magazine article expressing the mere opinion of a non-legal expert – ‘When
did Orkney and Shetland Become Part of Scotland?’ by Brian Smith. The
article contains no proof and does not even pretend to be authoritative – it
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